“Hey! How was your day?” Henry questioned the moment Derec opened the car door.
“... Fine.”
He replied in a grudging tone. Watching Derec from the corner of his eye, Henry exited the lot and headed home. Deciding whether or not he should press the issue. Then he reminded himself, Derec needed a father more than he needed a brother at the moment.
“Derec, what is it?”
“It's nothing!”
“Nothing doesn't yell at me when I ask.”
Crossing his arms Derec stared out the passenger window with a scowl on his face. Effectively giving Henry the silent treatment.
“Derec.........Derec?”
And He was blocked out. They rode the rest of the way in silence, and when they arrived home, Derec raced out the car as if the hounds of hell were riding his heels. Sighing in frustration Henry took the walk up more slowly, Derec had beat Henry to the apartment door but needed him to unlock it. On entrance Derec made a beeline for his room, Henry wouldn't be able to talk to him until dinner and only then if Derec was in a receptive mood.
*********
Once again in the enclosure of the capsule, Derec could relax. This wasn't the real world, and he wasn't a freak. He was just like any other player.
The inn was busy as usual and Cloud sat in his same spot drinking his apple juice.
“Waiting again, eh?” asked the bartender.
“Yup.”
And that was their conversation. Derec was extremely excited. He finished his first hunting quest and he could wait to see what items he would get. How much experience would he gain and would it be enough to level?
While he daydreamed Magnus walked into the building and sat down. Without a word to Cloud he accepted his drink and sat quietly as he consumed it.
“Aren't you going to talk to him? That's why you're here again aren't you?”
Imitating the sigh Cloud had heard adults giving to ignorant children, he attempted to look down his nose at the bartender. Which in reality made him look quite comical with his head tilted back so far.
“I told you before, if I talk to him then he wins.”
“Right.”
The bartender then turned to a beckoning customer to serve him while chuckling under his breath. Had Cloud not looked completely ridiculous when he wanted to seem superior, the bartender would have taken offence from the situation.
And so the day went, Magnus and Cloud sat at the bar in silence. As the sky darkened Cloud reached his wicks end. Muttering under his breath about stupid old men he made his way to the exit. As he passed Magnus spoke for the first time that day.
“What's it boy?”
“What is it?! What is it?!! You wasted my entire day is what it is!!”
“Hey, I didn't waste your day, you did that all on your own.”
“No! I sat there waiting for yo to speak to me!”
“Well, I sat here to drink. So in my books if you want the conversation then you should start it, not wait for it to start itself.”
“Hey! You're the one that needs me. You made me get those rabbit feet for you!”
“Yes, quite true. But then again I'm giving you something in return. Which means we both are quite equally involved in this endeavor, you are in no way doing me a favour. Rather you are my employee and once you have done what I have assigned you then you shall get paid.”
Fists clenched in frustration, Cloud's mouth opened and shut as he was at a loss for an argument.
“...I...... I don't even now what endeavor means!”
“Mmmm, then look it up. Now my rabbits feet would you? You have them correct?”
“Of course I have them! Here take them!”
Quest Complete!
Magnus Burnade accepted the lucky rabbits feet, which will help him in future to win back his money and pay back his gambling debt. He feels a little more trustworthy of your claims about the letter and will now accept it from you.
Reward: Acceptance of the letter
“What?!? I don't get a reward?”
“Yeah, you do. I'm giving you a little of my invaluable trust.”
“Gaahhh, fine whatever take the letter!”
Quest Complete!
Magnus Burnade has accepted the letter.
Reward: Dingy old book
Magnus read the contents of the letter, and the more he read the darker his expression turned. Murmuring to himself Magnus shoved the letter into his pocket, then rummaged around for something else. This happened to be an extremely tattered book. The cover was extremely dirty and may have been a bright orange or yellow under all the grime.
“Now this book, boy, it very valuable. Don't think to sell it until you know what it's about.”
Taking the book Cloud flipped open to the first page with illegible scrawl across the page.
“How am I supposed to read this? It's in a different language, and the words themselves are chicken scratch.”
“Not my problem. But one more thing. When you become strong, come see me again.”
Burnade's Beck and Call
When you have become a renowned fighter, return to speak with Magnus Burnade.
Difficulty: ??
Quest Requirement: Complete Quest Prove Your Word
“What kind of quest is this?”
“An important one. Now accept.”
“Fine, I'll do it.”
You have accepted the Quest.
Leaving the inn without another word to Magnus, Cloud headed to the city gates. What was he supposed to do now? What did it mean to get stronger, there wasn't even an explanation to how 'strong' was strong?
Any conversation he had with Magnus left him clenching his teeth in anger. Scuttling up the side of the building, Cloud used the rooftops to make his way to the training hall. Whacking scarecrow was sure to relieve some stress, especially if the scarecrow reminded him of a certain someone.
Hours passed as he attacked to scarecrow, like the last time, stats were raised slowly yet steadily as he exhausted himself. Eating what was let of the rye bread, thankful that he was probably never going to eat the stuff again.
He continued beating the scarecrow, thoughts of his anger at Magnus had reminded him of the students at school. They talked about him when they thought he wasn't listening or wouldn't be able to hear them. They thought of him as a freak, they may not know the true story but he was different from them and they knew it.
'How much more will they hate me when they find out the truth.'
This spurred him on even more, he fought the scarecrow. It thing ridiculed him and his inability to remember.
Strength increased by 1 point (+1 STR)Agility increased by 1 point (+1 AGI)Vitality increased by 1 point (+1 VIT)Fame increase by 20 points (+20 FAME)Life increased by 100 points (+100 HP)
As time passed his stats rose along with his mood. He began to notice the ache in his muscles, the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. Lowering his wooden sword he backed away from the scarecrow and turned to head out of the training hall. Before he made it half way to the door a system message popped up.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
> Quote:--Power down activated from outside source. Accept?--
Accepting Derec climbed from the capsule.
“Dinner Derec.”
Henry said before disappearing from the doorway. Derec's first thought was that Henry was mad.
'He has to be. I was rude in the car, and now he's angry. I shouldn't have been rude to him. But he doesn't want to hear about what happened at school, he just asked 'cause it was the normal thing to do. But I didn't have to be so rude.'
Contemplating the situation, Derec made his way down the hall to the kitchen.
Watching as Derec approached, Henry tried to see if there was any of the same emotion as in the car. Yet there was nothing to see, Derec's face was a blank slate, like that of the best gambling player. If Derec was ever to gamble he was sure to be a genius if he could hold up a face like that throughout the game and especially while bluffing.
He gave nothing away until the moment he sat down. Looking to his plate, his eye grew just a bit larger. And then again when Henry proceeded to put another spoon of rice on his plate.
“Something the matter?”
Henry asked in a neutral tone. Looking up then back at his plate Derec just shook his head.
'It's the food, he didn't expect to get any.'
Henry pondered this, but he couldn't come up with a reason as to why Derec wouldn't expect any food when he came to the dinner table after being called.
Henry finished dishing up for the both of the and then sat down to eat. They ate in silence for the first little while.
“So Derec, will you tell me what's going on at school?”
Derec looked up instantly.
“You really want to know? You're not angry?”
“If I didn't want to know then wouldn't have asked. And why would I be angry?”
“Cause I was being bad, I didn't answer a question when you asked me one.”
In that moment it clicked. Derec hadn't expected any food from him because Derec thought Henry was angry at him. But he wondered where a ten year-old would get the idea that anger equalled starvation. Henry decided he would look into that at another time.
“Derec, if I ask you a question it's your choice on whether or not you want to answer me. At the most I was a little frustrated that you don't believe you can trust me enough to tell me what's going on. But you can, I'm here for you every step of the way. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Now you wanna tell me what's going on?”
“It's nothing really.” Derec said, testing the boundaries for this 'answer if you want to' while he tensed on the inside, waiting for Henry's reaction to his refusal to answer.
“Fine. You can go now if you're done.”
Henry sighed as he watched Derec flee to his room.
The moment Derec shut the door he raced back to his console and climbed in. Returning to Royal Road he found himself at the exit to the training hall. Immediately he turned around and resumed hiss place in front of the scarecrow, where he began to wail at the poor thing.
He fought the scarecrow, taking out further frustration. He couldn't understand why he didn't tell Henry the truth when he should have. Now he was just a liar, hiding in the game to escape Henry. He punished his own body—though he wasn't intentionally doing so—he was beyond his limits and forcing himself to attack.
New Skill: Last Stand [Passive] (Lv. 1 0%)Skill activation when you reach 5% health or stamina and continue battle.
+20% Agility
+10% Strength
Duration 30 seconds
Ignoring the system message Cloud continued to attack. His stomach gradually got tighter until it pained him to move. Stopping, he checked his satiation to find it severely depleted. Checking his bag he found it completely devoid of any edible food. The only thing it contained was the fox pelt, some meat and rabbit fur and meat.
He slumped to the ground too tired to do much other than sit still and watch what few people came to the training hall. He turned his head really looking around at the hall and found the instructor approaching him.
“Surprised to see you back here lad.”
He just stared, had he the energy he wuld have taken offence.
'He thinks of me as small and weak, and he never thought I could ever make it this far.'
“Has nothing to do with yer size boy, though I must say yer a short. But the reason is you're done yer training. You have completed the Basic training. I didn't get a chance to give you this.” The instructor handed Cloud a heavy long sword that was easily comparably in length to his own arm.
“What's this?”
“This is yer reward for yer hard work. Every person that completes the basic training is given one of those.”
“Basic training?”
“Ah, you didn't even know you were doing it. Don't get many of those around here. Well, the basic training is the lowest but mot important kind of training there is. There are other locations that will give you more training in the art of the sword, but you'll have to find them yourself lad.”
Tilting his head the instructor looked at Cloud in a contemplative manner.
“You look tired and hungry, let me give you some food.”
He rummaged in his pack and produced an apple which he handed to Cloud, who then immediately began to consume it. As Cloud ate the instructor continued to speak.
“You're quite tough now aren't you? Well then, lets test that shall we?”
Final Test
You have completed the Basic training and the instructor wishes to see how much you have learned. Collect 10 fox pelts and show them to the instructor.
Quest Requirement: Complete Basic Training.
Difficulty: F
Nodding vigorously with his mouth full, Cloud grinned up at the instructor.
You have accepted the quest
Finishing the apple in record time, Cloud raced out the hall and through the city by way of roofs.
Cloud exited the city through his usual method of climbing the wall. The guards at the gates weren't much better than the people in the city so he mostly avoided them.
Wanting to test his strength bit by bit, Cloud decided to hunt raccoons rather than rabbits which were now easy game.
Raccoons roamed farther than rabbits, but stuck mostly to the open terrain where the foxes and wolves were less likely to go.
Cloud headed to the forest, skirting other players to avoid their scorn. While he was careful not to go too close to the trees.